Sic' Em (Future) Bears

Avery and I traveled up to the Dallas area to visit my college roommate and her family. They just moved back to Texas from North Carolina, and we're so glad to have them here finally! They moved into this house and 3 days later she gave birth to Eli! I don't think life has slowed down for them since then. It's crazy to think that I've known Amanda for 10 years, and now we're having babies. We reminisced about the good ol' days at Baylor while refereeing the toddlers and cuddling with her 5-week-old Eli. We're looking forward to many more visits with them!

she thought this giraffe comb was awesome

and Jake's chair - they fought over it

so we brought out the portable high chair, and they were friends again

we went to the park, and Jake showed me how the gears worked

while Aves preferred to go  up and down the step

we loved on baby Eli

Jake gave him kisses

the only pic of me during the whole week, taken by Jake (not bad for a 2 year old!)

and Amanda - so great to see her!! It's been over 2 years.

Poor Jake isn't used to sensitive little girls...he's used to wrestling with his boy cousins. Avery isn't used to little boys and would cry if Jake even looked at her funny. Those two kids wore me out! But, they had a blast together for the most part, and Jake taught Avery how to run around the house in circles, which she LOVED. We never got a group picture...just too busy playing and catching up. Love you guys!

Urban Farming

We don't have a yard right now, so we joined up with a community garden nearby. We started our plot two weeks ago, and our little plants are hanging in there! Avery hasn't been a huge fan due to the heat and the fire ants, but the mornings are cooler now, so it shouldn't be so bad from here on out. My mom came in one day to help us get started, and she and I built the frame while Luke was at work.

turning the soil

adding Dr. Gobbler's...aka turkey manure...apparently veggies love it

signing "more"

she sat here all morning and gave orders

bell peppers, herbs, squash, tomatoes

she likes this bucket and dragged it all over the garden

1 going on 13

Avery disappeared today while I was working on laundry. She had been playing in her room, right next door to me, but I noticed that it had become very quiet. Never a good sign. I peeked around the corner and saw that her door was shut.

I grabbed the camera and tiptoed in to inspect.

I found her digging in our back-up disposable diaper box in her closet.

I left the room and left her door open.

She followed me and shut it again.

Open, shut, repeat. I'm not ready for a teenager!!

Fish N Chips

Minus the chips.

Avery had fish sticks for dinner last night, and she daintily dipped each one in the ketchup, until she tired of the fish, and then just dipped her finger in the ketchup and licked it off.

Like Father, Like Daughter

San Antonio Mini-Vacay, or The Hottest Weekend Ever

Texas is hot. HOT. I've lived here most of my life, I'm well aware of this, I feel no pity for those in the northeast experiencing a heat wave. We have one ever summer, all summer long. But this past weekend beat out all other hot summer days here. Why? Because we subjected ourselves to a day at Fiesta Texas followed by a day on the Riverwalk. Holy hades, it was blazin' out there.

But, we had a great time visiting with my dad's side of the family. Avery loved seeing aunts and uncles and grandparents and cousins. And - she rode her very first roller coaster! Sort of, seeing as how a sloth moves faster than these rides. But nonetheless, she went up in the air and whirled and twirled for 30 seconds. Whoo!

 Trying to get in and out of this contraption was a nightmare. I felt like I was a sardine. Avery liked it though.

We also tried the Big Red Cars; nice and slow, like the Zilker Park train. She was too hot to care.

We last a couple hours at the park in the morning, then back to the hotel for a nap. Once it cooled down a bit, we returned and graced Wiggles World (the pre-school area at Fiesta Texas) again for a couple more rides, this time with Daddy.

And the cars, with Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Nick (Aunt Michelle went to ride real rollercoasters with the rest of the gang).

The next day we walked the Riverwalk a bit, but gave in and sat in the air-conditioned Rivercenter Mall and had ice cream and visited the rest of the afternoon.

Sporting my DIY belt/scarf/sash. I took a scarf from the Liberty of London line at Target that I got on clearance for $3, and then sized it down to use as a belt, with a quick little hemming on the sewing machine right before we left town. The rest of the fabric will go to new curtains or a tea towel for Avery's play kitchen.

Zonked out in the stroller.

A very sad and tired Avery cuddling with Daddy.

 
Thanks to Yelp we found a great little Mexican restaurant for our first night there, and then Sunday morning we had breakfast at the Guenther House. If you've never been, you have to check it out. It's the old Pioneer Flour mill, and the restaurant is in the old mansion. The food is delicious and the surroundings are charming.

Somehow I managed to miss getting pictures of any of the rest of the family! Duh. I'm so bad at documenting events sometimes. But we had a fabulous (but hot) weekend!

I Heart Craigslist

Craigslist is the most amazing invention of the internet age ever. Sure, blogs are great, and Facebook is super handy, but CL is my true love. It's like Ebay, minus the bids and the shipping charges. There is still the thrill of the hunt, the deal of a lifetime, and the race to be the ultimate winner.

A few pieces of our furniture comes from CL (see also: coffee table, mid-century modern side chair needing reupholstery), and my latest acquisition is this beauty. I spied something nearly identical at Crate and Barrel years ago, the Faulkner Library Cabinet. But, I've never had the budget for it. Lo and behold, look what I found today. After some creative maneuvering in getting the guy to agree to hold it despite all of the other calls he got on it, and trading cars with my awesome brother-in-law and picking Luke up from work early so he could go get it, just a few short long hours later, this found its place in my home. I may or may not have done a happy dance throughout all of dinner. (And, in the process of getting it out of the truck, we met brand-new neighbors who have a daughter that Avery can play with. Time to take some baked goods next door!!)

Kisses

Today Avery gave me lots of kisses. She would come up and kiss one cheek, and then she'd take her hand and turn my face so she could lean in and kiss the other cheek. Over and over. This will be a favorite day forever.

Road Trip

Avery and I traveled with my mom and my grandparents up to Michigan to visit family and meet up with my sister on her way back to Texas from summer grad school. I took a ton of pics, but these are just some highlights of our time there.

Aunt Michelle was SO glad to see Avery again after 2 months away.

Avery loved Debbie and Debbie's phone.

She played with doggies.

She ran off some energy at the park.

post-slide static

Hi, Cheryl! Are you going to help me down off the deck?

We visited Calder's Dairy, where Avery...

Drove a dairy truck...

And chased the ducks and geese

And saw some goats

And baby cows, who were very friendly...

And bigger cows, all lined up...

Had some farm-made ice cream...

And saw a newly born calf while his momma worked on finishing up those pesky afterbirth contractions.

We played in Lake Erie

And met Loretta, who took formerly cranky Avery on a walk

And then she was so happy to be home finally.

We only had one meltdown, on our last night in Michigan, so I'd call this trip a success. And when I say meltdown, I mean an hour and a half of crying, with 20-30 minutes of solid screaming, like someone was beating her. She threw her body all over that pack 'n play and then all of a sudden it was quiet. She fell asleep and woke up happy.